Last year, the hot topic was 3D display technology. This year, it's all about near field communication, as we've seen a slew of vendors hawking the potential and ease of swiping your smartphone instead of your credit card. While that certainly was very cool, Ericsson's Connect Me technology puts it to shame.
The idea is simple: transmit data simply by touching an object. The company calls this technique "capacitive coupling." In the picture above, we touch two aluminum contacts to complete a circuit, allowing speakers to play back music. The possibilities for this technology are endless and perhaps more secure. NFC relies on wireless technology, which means there's always a risk of compromising your data by someone across the room. But Ericsson's idea allows you to limit data transmission to things you touch.
Think about shaking someone's hand to transfer your business card, or using your smartphone to unlock your front door. This is probably the best balance of convenience and secure connectivity. This is simply a proof of concept demo, and the company tells us that they aren't ready to announce any retail-ready solutions. Hopefully that changes, because this is one of the coolest things we've seen at Mobile World Congress.
